The 2024 Yamadori/Collecting Thread

[Desert O'Piñon]

I am looking forward to getting out and collecting a big sagebrush in 2025 when the ground thaws in the spring!

Excuses, huh?
As if a Coloradan doesn't have an ice axe...

 

[The Barber]

The weather says no again today... was 62 and raining yesterday, now this. They always say if you don't like the weather in Kentucky, wait 24 hours.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

The weather says no again today... was 62 and raining yesterday, now this. They always say if you don't like the weather in Kentucky, wait 24 hours.

Maybe weather happens faster in the desert? We say "Wait ten minutes." Or maybe we just don't have patience to wait a whole day.
72° Monday, 47° yesterday, 22° this morning.
I really need to start a thread about my newly acquired big tooth maple from @Captkingdom. I'll get some pics after work.

 

[ponderingsage]

Fingers crossed they make it through the winter well!!!

This encapsulates how we’re all feeling!

I got mine all tucked in and on a heating cable.

 

[AidsBonsai]

Oooo, how'd I miss this thread...
New Years Day, went for a walk in the woods

Wasn't 100 percent sure on this one, possibly red maple, of which I haven't played with, so grabbed it.
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Oak
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Beech, didn't snap a photo of it post dig, nebari wasn't anything special, though it had a ton of feeder roots.
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Another American Beech pair, haven't dug them yet, but note worthy I thought, nice movement. May give them a couple years, they are 100 yards from the house.
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December 26th Collections, close enough to 2024 they'll get dropped in here as well.

Eastern hemlock, grabbed 2, usually they are straight trunked and uninteresting, but these had movement and health.
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And this American Beech. One worth crying over if it doesn't make it I figure. I really love the potential. It will be going on a heat bed, hopefully it will help it to develop roots over the winter in my heavily insulated shed.

It was rooted over a chunk of loose rock in shallow soil...I had this 22 inch pot I wasn't using so it went in there. It was dumping rain by the time I got home,and about half way through collection it was a solid drizzle, so I opted to not build a wooden box for it as rain was blowing into the porch and my treated deck boards I use to make boxes was all drenched.

I wish I had taken a picture of the root system, probably a fist sized amount of feeder roots total, mostly near the trunk on the opposite side of the rock, it was on the ledge of a 6 ft ledge of a cutout in a logging road. Soil is 1-1-1 kanuma, Lava rock, and pumice.
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And this one I left for later, the guy has been chopped back repeatedly to leave a view of the creek behind it.
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Really cool ones I love the beech wow

 

[AidsBonsai]

Here is a Yellow Birch I collected while walking along a creek up by my cottage.

It was about 12 feet tall and had some low branching so I thought I would give it a shot and try to take it home. It was stuck between two large White cedar. I sawed it out and wanted to get off as much of the cedar roots that combined with the birch. Took forever to untangle the mess but I got some nice feeder roots out of the birch.

Any ideas for styling of the branches? or what to make of the trunk chop portion? Should I try to wire a new leader to fill over the trunk chop?

Thanks for looking I would appreciate some feedback or tips I am very new to bonsai.

 

[The Barber]

Made it out to collect some hornbeam finally. Will get some photos in a bit. Teaser.


Fully expected a tap root at the end of the flare on the left, then it split into 3, yay!

 

[DeepSouth]

Made it out to collect some hornbeam finally. Will get some photos in a bit. Teaser.


Fully expected a tap root at the end of the flare on the left, then it split into 3, yay!

Nice nebari on that tree.

I have found that hornbeams tend to have quite a nice root system without taproots, at least here in Louisiana, in loamy clay soil.

Sweetgums on the other hand...

Is this a good time to collect in your area?

 

[The Barber]

Nice nebari on that tree.

I have found that hornbeams tend to have quite a nice root system without taproots, at least here in Louisiana, in loamy clay soil.

Sweetgums on the other hand...

Is this a good time to collect in your area?

I had 100 percent success on the hornbeams I collected around Christmas last year, I'd say 90 percent on beech, and 100 percent on wild highbush blueberries, along with pretty much any other deciduous. Also a decent sized black oak that I didn't expect to make it as it had a huge tap root and not a rediculous amount of feeder roots that thrived this year. I keep newly collected trees protected from the elements though in a unheated heavily insulated shed. Black gum I have had zero success with period, and I like Nissa Sylvatica.

We are well into dormancy now here in Kentucky. Near Christmas tends to be when I start my collecting.

They almost always have an amazing nebari in the area I'm collecting.

 

[The Barber]

Found some hornbeam clumps.


Twin trunk with a great nebari

This one was a short weeping tree, the canopy had fallen out of an old virginia pine on top of it.

Smaller guy but, gathering some for an eventual forest planting.

Grabbed this guy on the way out of the woods, has a wider base in person than my crappy photography shows.

And the big one from earlier. Base is probably 8-10 inches, tapers to about 3 inches

 

[DeepSouth]

Found some hornbeam clumps.


Twin trunk with a great nebari

This one was a short weeping tree, the canopy had fallen out of an old virginia pine on top of it.

Smaller guy but, gathering some for an eventual forest planting.

Grabbed this guy on the way out of the woods, has a wider base in person than my crappy photography shows.

And the big one from earlier. Base is probably 8-10 inches, tapers to about 3 inches

I love that first clump! Maybe I can trade you for a tree from around here ! (JK, kinda?)

Thanks for providing pictures of the hornbeams in your area.

 

[Cajunrider]

Made it out to collect some hornbeam finally. Will get some photos in a bit. Teaser.


Fully expected a tap root at the end of the flare on the left, then it split into 3, yay!
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Looking forward to see them developed.

 

[The Barber]

Found an area loaded with hackberries, winged elm, and slippery elm on my collection site as well. The density if hornbeams in the area blows my mind, I never got too far from my truck and the property is 40 acres. Most of those trees I collected were probably within 50 ft of each other. Here's how the clumps were, and there was another clump near those.

Looking forward to see them developed.

Me too!

I love that first clump! Maybe I can trade you for a tree from around here ! (JK, kinda?)

Thanks for providing pictures of the hornbeams in your area.

Hit me up when it recovers then we can talk.

Example of the hornbeam density in the area. Pre-made forest planting basically.